Stylised bust right / Figure advancing left

11mm, 1.40g

An affordable piece, used and lost by the Anglo Saxons in southern Britain.

This coin comes with a rough UK find area provenance.

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Type 1

Monogram for REX/Five annulets, each containing a pellet, joined to form a cross

S873; 19mm, 1.39g

A fabulous coin, well struck in good silver with pleasing surfaces and crisp detail. The smallest of edge chips as can be seen in photos.

This coin comes with a collectors handwritten note stating that it was found at Tonbridge, Kent in 1980.

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Eadberht III Praen (796-798) – an obscure individual apparently residing at the court of Frankish King Charlemagne (who may well have sponsored his insurrection), Eadberht took power in late 796 following the death of Offa of Mercia. However, his attempt stalled when Pope Leo III refused to ratify his rule – ruling instead that Offa’s successor Coenwulf had every right to wage war on Eadberht and re-take Kent. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that Eadberht was quickly captured and brought back to Mercia, but his ultimate fate is unknown. One source states that he was mutilated and blinded, another that he was set free.

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Light coinage, non portrait. Moneyer Beaweth? or similar

Celtic Cross Type, Small flan

S904, 16mm, 0.97g

This coin comes with a rough find area provenance.

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Offa (757-796): The first King of Mercia to strike coins, Offa is perhaps one of the most famous Anglo-Saxon kings – and certainly the longest-ruling (c. 39 years). Although he probably was not the original builder of ‘Offa’s Dyke’ and his attempts to ingratiate himself with the Frankish King Charlemagne ultimately failed – by the time of his death he had built Mercia into Anglo-Saxon England’s powerhouse kingdom. J J North’s ‘English Hammered Coinage vol. I’ encompasses Offa’s coinage within c. 80 different types, which perhaps illustrates best the complexity of his various issues struck during his reign.

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Diademed bust left, RX at end of legend ligated together in one letter form/Small Cross

Aelfweard, Wallingford

S1154; 20mm, 1.71g

Comes with previous collectors printed label

An attractive coin in hand

Æthelred II ‘The Unready’ – 978-1013/1014-1016: The eldest son of Eadgar, Æthelred became king at the mere age of 12 following the brutal murder of his half-brother Edward. Young and easy to manipulate, he came to depend on his councillors for their prudent advice – an aspect in which they badly let him down. Though his reign is noted for its economic reforms and a high standard for the English coinage, it was marred by Scandinavian raids, periods of acute social instability and famine. Initially adopting a policy of paying the invaders to go away, Æthelred abruptly U-turned in 1002 and massacred many ethnic Danes resident in England. This policy backfired spectacularly, actually causing more Scandinavians to take up arms against him. Displaced from the throne in 1013 by Swein Forkbeard, he briefly returned to rule for a second time in 1014 after the latter’s untimely death – only to die himself shortly afterwards.

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Series X

Wodan head / Monster

Ribe mint.

S797; 12mm, 1.02g

This coin comes with a rough find area provenance and is recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

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Series Q, Type 95

Facing bust of Christ? / Quadruped (wolf?) facing left with head turned back, crest woven between legs.

S808C; 12mm, 0.90g

A most attractive and seldom offered type.

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This coin comes with a rough find area provenance and previous collectors handwritten label.

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Danish East Anglia AD 885-954 Silver Penny

St Edmund Memorial

Alpha / Cross

NGC Slab MS62

S960; 18mm, 41.54g (Slab weight)

A high grade example.

Saint Edmund’s pennies

Perhaps the most numerous of the Anglo-Viking issues struck in the Danelaw are the so-called ‘St Edmund Memorial’ pennies, copying issues of Edmund – the King of East Anglia who was martyred in 869. These coins were struck in several phases from c. 895-910 by a dizzying array of moneyers, who demonstrate not only indigenous Anglo-Saxon names but also Scandinavian and even continental ones. These attest to a thriving, internationally-reaching polity that was probably somewhat diverse.

It might seem bizarre to think that the sons and grandsons of those who had originally killed Edmund had now moved to striking coins celebrating him as ‘SC EADMUND’ (Saint Edmund) within their own territory. However, perhaps there is a relevant point here to be made concerning the extent to which Christian beliefs had been adopted and the hold which Edmund’s cult held over the local populace. Perhaps the newly-converted Danes, feeling guilty for their ancestors’ martyrdom of Edmund, were trying to make spiritual amends by venerating him on their coins?

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Hiberno Norse AD 1035-1060 Silver Penny Long Cross. Phase 3

Imitating Aethelred II’s Long Cross coinage, blundered legends.

Hands in 2 angles, trefoil of pellets.

S6132; 18mm, 0.93g

Comes with previous collectors handwritten label, ex Hibernia collection.

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Hiberno Norse AD 1035-1060 Silver Penny Long Cross. Phase 3

Imitating Aethelred II’s Long Cross coinage, blundered legends.

Hand and pellets in 2 angles

S6132A; 17mm, 0.98g

Comes with previous collectors handwritten label, ex Hibernia collection.

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Short Cross type

Lincoln / Wulfric

S1159; 18mm, 1.11g

This coin comes with a previous handwritten collectors label.

High grade and pleasing, dark tone with iridescence.

Cnut ‘The Great’ – 1016-1035: A prominent Scandinavian prince and junior member of the Danish royal house, Cnut spent much of the early 11th century as an active participant on raids directed at England. In 1013, his father Swein Forkbeard invaded England and became its king by dint of conquest – though died shortly afterwards. Cnut was forced to retreat back to Denmark, but returned to England in 1015. Defeating the English at Assandun in 1016 and forcing a settlement, Cnut eventually succeeded to the throne of all England. An outwardly pious man, he gave generously to religious houses during his reign and went on pilgrimage to Rome – despite being a murderous bigamist. During his near twenty-year long rule, he came to unite England, Denmark, Norway and part of Sweden into the powerful but short-lived ‘North Sea Empire.’

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